Tuesday, May 10, 2011

That's the way we get by...

Charlie finally started crawling in her cast today! I honestly thought a couple of times that she might not do it in this cast. Charlie is one of the most determined baby I've ever seen, but this cast is considerably different from the others. And I guess we've been pretty lucky so far. In the first cast, she was taking off after 2 days home from the hospital. After the second surgery, it took about 5 days. The surgery was more extensive so we were prepared for that. Both casts from the previous surgeries had her legs somewhat in front of her with her knee slightly bent and one leg out from the knee down. Honestly it didn't change much about her crawling. She's never had full use of her legs. But this cast is more similar to the ones seen on babies with hip dysplasia. Her legs pulled out to the side. And she has a stabilizing bar to make sure her hip stays where it should. I may have mentioned before that she can't fit in her high chair or jumper. She can't stand in this cast either. So what do we do with her???

We throw her in the backyard!

Ok no we don't. I've been fortunate to find other spica cast blogs and have adopted some of their tips as well as coming up with things for us.

1. Yous about to get cut, Bumbo:

With a bread knife, I carved up this expensive piece of foam and adapted it to fit charlies cast. Works as a high chair, a snack chair, a way to sit up and play with toys or play in the yard. We even put it in the wagon to pull her around outside.

2. The Princess throne:

We've found that the best consolation to having to be limited in movement, is allowing Charlie to finally sit on the couch by herself like a big girl. With pillows surrounding her so she can reach her toys, we've found that she'll stay a princess for upwards of two hours.

3. An activity table:

Now if you can, get a simple first drawing table and it can serve as a table for everything. But we are limited to stores in our hood so this was what I could get. Still, Charlie can sit at it in her Bumbo and if she's playing on the floor the legs easily pop off and she can play with it on the floor.

4. Some other tips:
-A box or book that's about 2-3" tall to put under the crib mattress. It makes the spica cast much more cOmfortable to sleep in.
-Rolled up blankets. They will be your super best friend.
-I lay Charlie across my lap with her head pointed down other the bathtub during bath time. I run the water high enough that she can splash her arms in it while I wash her hair with a cup. I stuff a towel around the edge of the cast to protect it from any water that runs off.
-I mentioned this with the last cast, but a diaper cover will make you (and the earth!) much happier. Stuff one diaper in the cast and use the diaper cover to hold it in place.

And as a side note, Davey is pretty ok with all the new cast toys too...

We're one month from life without a cast! We're literally counting down the days!

I'm a proud mother of twins and a proud wife of a man I loved before I even knew his name. After getting married and finding out twins were on the way, my husband and I moved to our remote house on the hill. Just on the edge of the Mississippi Delta, our home is far from the usual conveniences. I've spent the past few years trying to learn how to make everything I need for those days that driving 20 minutes to the nearest grocery is completely out of the question. And what good is an adventure in the kitchen if I can't share it with anyone? Hello blogosphere!